Development of a Disability Employment Information System: An Information Systems Design Theory Approach

Employment has been shown to provide people with disabilities a sense of self satisfaction and contribution to society. However, a significant challenge exists in that social constraints are often imposed on this population by an uninformed or uneducated socio-political system. Governments struggle with appropriate means to address such constraints. One such program in the U.S., called Ticket-to-Work (TTW), rewards certain public and private organizations for providing employment services for people with disabilities. While multi-organizational e-government systems have been developed to enable a wide range of public programs, no disability employment system was found to exist to serve a clear need for improved employment services across public and private organizations serving the TTW program. This research employs Information Systems Design Theory (ISDT) to design, develop, and assess a disability employment system. End user data collection, system requirements, system design and kernel theories are presented, design propositions are evaluated, and implications are discussed on the role of e-government in disability employment management.